Top Items:
New York Times:
Neil Gorsuch, the Nominee for a Stolen Seat — It's been almost a year since Senate Republicans took an empty Supreme Court seat hostage, discarding a constitutional duty that both parties have honored throughout American history and hobbling an entire branch of government for partisan gain.
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Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Michael Moore to Dems: Block Gorsuch or face primaries — Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on Wednesday threatened any Senate Democrats who do not block President Trump's Supreme Court nominee with primary challenges in their next election. — Trump announced his pick of Judge Neil Gorsuch …
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, TheBlaze, RedState, Washington Post and twitchy.com
President Trump had the chance to select:
President Trump had the chance to select a consensus nominee to the Supreme Court. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, he failed that test. — Instead, he carried out his public promise to select a nominee from a list drawn up by far right activist groups that were financed by big business interests.
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump to McConnell: Go nuclear if necessary … President Trump on Wednesday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — (R-Ky.) to abolish the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees if Democrats block his nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. — “If we end up with that gridlock …
Discussion:
CNN, Common Dreams, TheBlaze, Political Wire, Vox, Axios and New York's PIX11
Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:
Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch
Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch
Discussion:
Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Salon, BostonGlobe.com, BuzzFeed, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Politico, Hit & Run, Mother Jones, SCOTUSblog, No More Mister Nice Blog, IJR, Vox, The Daily Caller, The Other McCain, electionlawblog.org, twitchy.com, The Federalist, ThinkProgress, Economist, Fox Business, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, VDARE, Fox News, USA Today, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, LifeNews.com, CNN, The Atlantic, Reuters, American Power, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The American Conservative, RedState, Slate, The Gateway Pundit, Patterico's Pontifications, Eschaton, WTKR-TV, Townhall.com, Power Line, New Republic, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Axios and Associated Press
Christina Cauterucci / Slate:
What Neil Gorsuch, Trump's SCOTUS Pick, Means for American Women
What Neil Gorsuch, Trump's SCOTUS Pick, Means for American Women
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, NPR, Hot Air, Bloomberg, Longreads, Los Angeles Times, Denver Post, Hit & Run, Instapundit, Talking Points Memo and SCOTUSblog
Chris McDaniel / BuzzFeed:
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Determined That A Badly Botched Execution Was An “Innocent Misadventure”
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Determined That A Badly Botched Execution Was An “Innocent Misadventure”
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Above the Law, CNN, Associated Press, Bloomberg and The Crime Report
Fox News:
Ted Cruz reportedly says nuclear option is on table in Supreme Court pick
Ted Cruz reportedly says nuclear option is on table in Supreme Court pick
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air, Instapundit, Politico and ABC News
Jonathan Turley / The Hill:
Gorsuch is perfect choice for Supreme Court, fulfills a Trump promise
Gorsuch is perfect choice for Supreme Court, fulfills a Trump promise
Discussion:
New York Times, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post
Brady Dennis / Washington Post:
Neil Gorsuch's mother once ran the EPA. It didn't go well.
Neil Gorsuch's mother once ran the EPA. It didn't go well.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and DCist
Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Warren says she'll oppose Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Warren says she'll oppose Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Discussion:
American Greatness, USA Today, alan.com, The Week and Raw Story
Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
GOP changes rules to push through nominees after Dem boycott — Senate Republicans pushed through a pair of President Trump's Cabinet nominees Wednesday, upending standard committee rules to circumvent a Democratic boycott. — The Senate Finance Committee advanced a pair of Trump's nominees …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Common Dreams, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politicus USA, RedState, Discourse.net and Gothamist
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
‘Idiots’ — Senate tensions boil over — The Senate has become embroiled in bitterness and name-calling less than two weeks after Inauguration Day. — The usually genteel chamber of Congress has been anything but recently amid controversial directives from the White House …
CNN:
Republicans vote to suspend committee rules, advance Mnuchin, Price nominations — (CNN)Senate Republicans took an extraordinary step Wednesday to move forward with two of President Donald Trump's top Cabinet nominees after confronting a boycott from Democrats across the aisle.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, TheBlaze, KTLA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Political Wire and electionlawblog.org
Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Sessions approved by Senate committee
Sessions approved by Senate committee
Discussion:
RedState, TalkLeft and Joe.My.God.
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
“I don't care what they want at this point,” said Orrin Hatch.
“I don't care what they want at this point,” said Orrin Hatch.
Discussion:
Power Line and Associated Press
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Two GOP senators to vote ‘no’ on Betsy DeVos — in back-to-back speeches on the Senate floor announced Wednesday that they would oppose Betsy DeVos's nomination to be Education secretary. — They are the first two Republicans to break with Trump on any of his Cabinet picks …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Axios, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Kimberly Hefling / Politico:
DeVos in trouble — Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday they will vote against Education Department nominee Betsy DeVos, leaving her with no votes to spare to survive a looming confirmation vote. — No Democrats are expected to vote for DeVos …
Discussion:
Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Townhall.com and Hot Air
Us Weekly:
First Lady Melania Trump May Stay in NYC Permanently and Never Move Into the White House — President Donald Trump may have 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue all to himself. — Though Donald, 70, and his wife Melania announced in November that the first lady would relocate from New York City …
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Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
DNC boots candidate from chairmanship race for criticizing Ellison's Islamic faith — The Democratic National Committee is kicking a candidate out of the chairmanship race after he told The Hill that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) should not be the party's next leader because he is a Muslim.
Sarah D / Los Angeles Times:
Trump administration is radicalizing Democratic voters, creating a challenge for the party, Rep. Adam Schiff says — As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized …
Discussion:
Shakesville
RELATED:
Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
Democrats are becoming the party of secession
Bethany Mandel / The Federalist:
Facebook Dead At 12, A Victim Of 2016 — If I were to write an obituary for Facebook, it might look something like this: … The Facebook, known as Facebook or FB for short, was invented as a tool to connect users with friends, family, and occasionally brands.
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump loses suit over golf club memberships — A federal judge has ordered a golf club owned by President Donald Trump to refund nearly $6 million to members who said Trump's team essentially confiscated refundable deposits after taking over the country club in 2012
Discussion:
Raw Story
Gardiner Harris / New York Times:
Rex Tillerson Is Confirmed as Secretary of State — WASHINGTON — Rex W. Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday in a 56 to 43 vote to become the nation's 69th secretary of state just as serious strains have emerged with important international allies.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Last Refuge, Althouse and The Week
Cameron Knight / USA Today:
Nation's bacon reserves hit 50-year low as prices rise — The country's bacon reserves are at the lowest levels in half a century. — In other words, pig farmers can't keep up with the world's sizzling appetite for those fatty, smoky strips of sheer eating pleasure.
Discussion:
RedState, The Daily Caller, The Week, NBC News and WCCO | CBS Minnesota
Reuters:
Covering Trump the Reuters Way — In a message to staff today, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way: — The first 12 days of the Trump presidency (yes, that's all it's been!) have been memorable for all - and especially challenging for us in the news business.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Boing Boing and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Franken slams Cruz for ‘trying to impugn’ his record — (R-Texas) Wednesday for accusing him of trying to disparage Sen. Jeff Sessions — (R-Ala.) during committee hearings on his nomination to be attorney general. — “Let's talk about who is trying to impugn the record of another senator …
Discussion:
RedState
Emily Nohr / Omaha World-Herald:
Nebraska flag flew upside down at Capitol for 10 days and ‘nobody noticed,’ says senator who wants design change — This Nebraska state flag flew over Gardez, Afghanistan, when a Nebraska National Guard team served there in 2005. Here, Col. Tom Schuurmans presents then-Gov. Dave Heineman …
Discussion:
RedState, The Guardian, The Week and Mediaite
Alan M. Dershowitz / The Hill:
Sally Yates was wrong and should have resigned — Sally Yates is neither a hero, nor a villain. She made an honest mistake when she instructed the entire Justice Department not to defend President Trump's wrong-headed executive order on immigration. The reasons she gave in her letter referred …
Discussion:
neo-neocon
Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
Trump transition email shows initial effort to oust all inspectors general — An email from the Trump transition team on the evening of Jan. 13 instructed all transition team leaders to “reach out tonight and inform” the inspectors general in their agencies “that they are being held over on a temporary basis.”
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Committee on Oversight … and Mediaite
Goldie Blumenstyk / Chronicle of Higher Education:
Jerry Falwell Jr. Says He Will Lead Federal Task Force on Higher-Ed Policy — Jerry L. Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, has been asked by President Trump to head up a new task force that will identify changes that should be made to the U.S. Department of Education's policies and procedures …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Atlantic, LGBTQ Nation, Shakesville, NBC News, Washington Post, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch and CANNONFIRE
Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Bannon in 2010: ‘Islam is not a religion of peace’ — President's Trump's chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, in 2010 said he does not think Islam is a religion of peace, CNN reported. — Bannon made the comment during an online radio interview with “Western Word Radio with Avi Davis,” …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, alan.com, CNN, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and The Gateway Pundit
Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:
Trump's campaign paid his businesses millions over course of campaign — The final bill is in: Donald Trump's campaign paid his companies $12.8 million from the time he launched his improbable presidential bid in the lobby of his company's flagship Trump Tower property through the end of last year …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, The Crime Report, The Week and Eater